


Return to Caem

by nychus



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Post-Episode Ignis Verse 2, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23499598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nychus/pseuds/nychus
Summary: It's two months after The Dawn. Two months since King Noctis and his adviser Ignis have died.Two months and Gladio is dragging Iris to the last place she had seen Noctis.She wasn't ready to deal with the memories. She wasn't ready to deal with what was there.
Relationships: Noctis Lucis Caelum/Ignis Scientia
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	Return to Caem

The long dark had come to an end. The King of Light has triumphed over the Accursed and defeated the Starscourge. The people cheered and celebrated, but they also mourned. They mourned for the sacrifice that their king had made. They mourned for the heartache the last of the Crownsguard suffered. They especially mourned for the adviser-to-be, the one who knew the king the best and longest, who couldn’t stand the grief and took his own life.

But the people vowed to not let the king’s sacrifice be in vain. They started to rebuild the land of Eos, with every intent of making it a place that would make the last king of Lucis proud. All that was asked of them was to leave the little stretch of land known as Cape Caem alone. It was to remain an outpost for those closest to the king to escape to should they need it. It was the least the world could do.

Iris was furious the first time Gladio dragged her down. She didn’t want to go. It was the last place she’d seen Noctis and the grief was still strong. The light had returned just barely two months ago. But Gladio had insisted, saying they needed a break. He’d looked so earnest that Iris couldn’t refuse, no matter how much she wanted.

Gladio parked off the road at the bottom of the cliff and Iris managed to get out of the car but not do much else. She stared up the hill, afraid of what was up there; what memories would assault her. Inwardly, she laughed, wondering what people would think of ‘Iris the Demonslayer’ being afraid of a house. 

Gladio tugged on her wrist and got her moving.

They were about halfway up the hill when a dog barked. Iris glanced first to Gladio and then towards the movement of the dog running down the hill to greet them.

“Umbra?” Iris asked, kneeling down to pet the messenger.

Umbra barked again and ran back up the hill, leaving the humans in his wake.

The house looked the same, Iris noted. Still as rundown and slapped together as the first time she’d laid eyes on it. But the yard was different. It was cleaner, neater. There was a clothesline with sheets pinned to it, flapping in the breeze.

Gladio was surprised by none of this and kept walking towards the house. Iris jogged to catch up, only now realizing the door was open.

“Knock, knock!” Gladio called as he stepped inside.

The inside was considerably different from the way that Iris had remembered. Everything had a sheen of newness to it; a cleanliness that should not have existed so soon after the long dark. The furniture was the same for the most part, but cleaned. A new coffee table was in front of the old couch and it looked as if the table had been hand carved by someone who wasn’t quite adept at the skill yet.

She was staring at it when someone came out of the little storage room next to the kitchen.

“Don’t laugh, I’m still learning.”

Iris’s head shot up and she gaped.

“I’m actually impressed,” Gladio said, meeting Noctis in the kitchen and giving him a tight hug. “Where’s Iggy?”

“Down by the shore, collecting mussels. Seafood is still the freshest meat we have here,” Noctis explained. He then looked at Iris. “I’m guessing you didn’t tell her.”

“And miss the opportunity to see her truly surprised? Never,” Gladio laughed.

“Hey, Iris,” Noctis said, stepping over to her. He held his arms out slightly, inviting the hug but understanding if she wasn’t prepared.

“How? They said… everyone said… the only way to defeat Ardyn…”

“Ignis found a way,” Noctis smiled. “He won’t tell me the details, but he has strange scars and sometimes wakes from nightmares.”

“You don’t need the details,” Ignis said, walking in. He went to set his basket of mussels and clams down in the kitchen before turning back to Gladio and Iris. “Welcome.”

It was more than Iris could bear. Two of her oldest friends who she had thought dead were standing right in front of her very much alive. And Gladio knew! Shock quickly turned to anger and she punched Gladio hard in the jaw.

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” she yelled, shaking out her hand.

Rubbing his jaw, Gladio just chuckled. “Yeah, I deserved that.”

“Don’t be angry with Gladio,” Ignis said. He gestured towards the couch, inviting everyone to sit down. Noctis hurried to the kitchen to grab drinks. “We asked that no one know, not initially at least.”

“So, who knows?” Iris asked, taking the glass of water that Noctis proffered and noticing the wedding band. She glanced over at Ignis’s left hand and saw a similar ring. She suddenly felt foolish of her long-time crush on Noctis. “I had no idea,” she whispered.

“These two idiots didn’t figure it out until…”

“It’s not that we didn’t know,” Noctis interjected, “we just didn’t think we could.”

“Indeed. There was so much separating us that it didn’t seem possible and so when we got the chance, we took it. Back to your initial question, Gladio, Prompto, and Cor are the only ones who knew. You are the first to know outside of them.”

“Why me?”

“You’re family,” Noctis smiled. “It was hardest not to let you know immediately but we needed to keep it as few people as possible.”

“We likely wouldn’t have told Cor except that we needed his help getting Noct back on his feet after the ordeal,” Ignis added.

“But why the charade?” Iris asked.

“I was never meant to rule,” Noctis answered solemnly. “I was raised to be a sacrifice, which is why my father wanted me to live as normally as possible. Ignis was taught to rule, he had been the one to get all the lessons because Dad was aware that the world would need someone to turn to.”

“But I didn’t want to rule,” Ignis continued. “I didn’t want to constantly sought for advice. Noct didn’t want to be begged into staying on as king. It felt like it was best for us to die in the eyes of the public and live the rest of our lives as humble nature folk.”

“That’s why Caem is meant to be left alone, so that no one will bother you,” Iris mused.

“Indeed, but that doesn’t mean we wouldn’t welcome you to visit whenever you wish.”

“Thank you,” Iris smiled before jumping to her feet and giving the men tight hugs. It felt so good to see them alive and well and happy.


End file.
